CENTENNIAL | The Cherokee Trail and Eaglecrest boys volleyball teams have become very familiar with each other in the early season as they squared off for a third time already Thursday night at The Nest.
The Cougars had prevailed in two-set matches over the Raptors at both the Eaglecrest and Legend tournaments in the first month of the season and again came out on top in a hard-fought Centennial League matchup between programs ranked in the top eight in the most recent CHSAANow.com Class 5A coaches poll.
Fourth-ranked Cherokee Trail came through in the key spots late in each of the three sets for a 25-23, 26-24, 29-27 victory over eighth-ranked Eaglecrest in a match that stretched teams that were dealing with the effects of grueling early schedules.
“All of our matches against Eaglecrest have been tough over the last few years, so this one was as expected,” said Cougars coach Mike Thomsen, whose team improved to 12-3 overall and 2-1 in Centennial League play. “Both sides hung in there and really battled. I thought our guys did a good job winning the key points and not letting them get a chance to separate from us.”
The one time coach Chad Bond’s Raptors (8-6, 1-2) did get some separation came in the second set, when they built a lead as large as six points at 19-13 after senior Ayden Shaw had a kill and a block that was followed by a tip from senior Alex Opferman.
The Cougars battled back, but the Raptors had set point twice, only to be thwarted by a tip from sophomore Jaeden Barnes and again with a service ace from senior Jaime Coronel that forged a 24-24 tie. Senior Daniel Xiao’s tip flipped the set point chance to the Cougars, who secured the win on another Coronel ace.
Cherokee Trail had won the first set on an ace as well, that one coming off the hand of senior David Weiss.
The third set needed extra points to decide, though the Cougars had the first chance to close it out after a putaway from junior John Clinton. The Raptors staved off four consecutive set points, but ceded the final two points.
Sophomore Jackson Shaw finished with 13 kills and Ayden Shaw 12 for Eaglecrest.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
